Some Kind Of Gardener

Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett on the allure of gardening,man-eating plants, and eating straight from the vine

When he’s not touring the globe with Metallica, curating his horror-movie poster collection, or partnering with craft distillers Blackened whiskey, Kirk Hammett finds time to tend the vegetable garden at his 19th-century Northern California homestead.

How exactly does a globe-trotting metal god find time to tend his garden?

I’m a better harvester than I am a grower. What I usually do is have someone start everything and then I can step in and take over and start watering and pruning and harvesting. And digging in the dirt is good for strengthening my hands. There’s something really grounding about the magnetic energy of the earth in my hands. I can feel it.

Sounds like you’ve got the fun part of the job. Give us an inventory of what you get to harvest.